Stagwell Confident Despite 2023 Revenue Decline

Marcoms group Stagwell has reported full year 2023 revenue of $2.53bn, down 6% year on year, and adjusted EBITDA of $360m, down 20%. However the company reports strong new business, good growth in EMEA and for its Marketing Cloud suite, and is forecasting a return to growth in 2024.

The group, which is the owner of the Harris Poll and Harris X brands as well as Maru Group, saw record net LTM new business of more than $270m+ in the year and $65m in Q4. The Stagwell Marketing Cloud drove 31% net revenue growth, while international net revenue rose 13%, including 17% in EMEA and 5% in APAC. In the fourth quarter net revenue from international increased 3%, led by an increase of 19% in the United Kingdom. Stagwell made four acquisitions and completed a profitable sale of its ConcentricLife business to Accenture in Q4 for gross proceeds of $245m.

In 2024 Stagwell expects - as do most marketing agencies - a boost from political ads and advocacy relating to the Presidential election. It also says it has AI and AR products due to hit the market. Chairman and CEO Mark Penn comments: 'Despite a challenging year for marketing services and digital transformation - accentuated by our client mix - Stagwell grew share with some of our largest customers in 2023, took prudent steps to manage our costs, and invested in digital innovation to stay ahead of the future of marketing. In Q4 we returned to sequential net revenue growth, sold a non-core asset for significantly above our initial investment, and saw our tech company clients begin to re-engage'. CFO Frank Lanuto said the management had reacted to macroeconomic headwinds with 'decisive actions to align costs with revenues', including delivery ahead of schedule of $30 million in synergies which were promised at the time of the 2021 merger.

For 2024 the firm predicts organic net revenue growth of 5% to 7% and adjusted EBITDA of $400m to $450m.

Web site: www.stagwellglobal.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.